A slick shopping centre full of Armani, Prada and L'Occitane stores – not to mention a casino with a 150-seat poker room – is a strange place to hold an event aimed at helping people save money on energy bills.

But Citizens Advice hopes its Big Energy Saving Week, which kicked off at Stratford's Westfield centre on 22 October, will help cash-strapped families around the country avoid falling into fuel poverty. And to have that kind of effect you have to go where the people are – the shops.

The soaring cost of gas and electricity is headline news following the latest round of price rises from most of the UK's big six energy firms. Mixed messages from the government over how to tackle the issue have only added to the confusion and helplessness felt by many families.

Citizens Advice hopes its week-long focus on energy, and the more than 400 events it is holding across the country, will educate consumers, handing them back the initiative to take control of their finances and to seek the cheapest deals on gas and electricity.

Following recent gaffes on energy policy, the Department of Energy and Climate Change sent Baroness Verma along to the launch. The minister was keen to reassert her government's commitment to helping consumers.

"Rising fuel bills are a really big deal," she says. "Consumers really ought to know that help is available and there are lots of things they can access, but it's about getting the message out there and empowering consumers. We are working with industry, which is very aware that consumers are hurting. It's a very difficult time."

Gillian Guy, chief executive of Citizens Advice, is less prosaic, warning of an imminent crisis for many households: "Ofgem and the government have massive questions to answer. It really does need an overhaul of the market, and not just putting a lid on it. Government has a responsibilty to look into competition in the energy market, to see how to get the structure right.

"We'd like some clarity from the government on what it is doing. What worried us is that the government's recent messages sound like a promise that everything will be okay and that this situation will be sorted out for people.

"That's counter to our message which is that people have to sort things out for themselves. I don't want people to relax. It's not going to be all right, winter is upon us and people need to take action now."

As it nears lunchtime, shoppers who look with interest at gaudy displays in shop windows seem to go glassy-eyed as they near the Big Energy Saving Week stall. They drift aimlessly past, their eyes passing over messages intended to promote and educate money-saving ideas before settling on a new shop display somewhere in the distance.

This is the challenge Citizens Advice and the government face: they want households to be proactive in seeking out the cheapest energy supplier, but the reality is that many people do not have the time or inclination to do so.

I collar a few shoppers near the 3 mobile phone shop. They all say they are interested in the Big Energy Saving Week and promise to visit the stall. "I've got three children to support at home, and I've got less work because people aren't making home improvements," says David Carpenter, a 43-year-old electrician. "I'd like to know if I really can save money, because I think all companies are the same. If I switch to a new provider one week, they'll only raise prices again the next."

Randeep Singh, 29, uses npower as his dual fuel supplier. "They've just raised prices," he says. "It will hurt us as my wife has had a baby and doesn't work at the moment. It'll be another £120 or so a year, which is a lot when you earn less than £20,000. How do they expect young families to afford this? The government needs to stop companies from making such large profits – why should we keep paying higher bills just so big companies can get fatter?"

At the launch are specialist advisers from regional Citizens Advice bureaux (CABs). Saher Osman is a fuel poverty advisor in the Hammersmith and Fulham (H&F) area. She explains how the H&F CAB's fuel poverty project has for four years been funded by the EDF Energy Trust – a registered charity funded by the energy firm – but that funding is due to expire at the end of 2012.

"I've had a lot of people in real difficulties who I have managed to help, so it's really important projects such as ours continue to be funded," she says. "The chances are slim for us, but we are seeking alternative funding."

In 2012, EDF Energy funded its trust arm to the tune of £1.99m – a sum it has committed to match in 2013. H&F CAB has been receiving about £29,000-£30,000 a year for its fuel poverty project, but with EDF directing this money elsewhere Osman admits the timing of the cut couldn't be worse.

She adds: "We're seeing cases of serious fuel poverty across the board, although it's a really big issue for elderly people – many are not putting their heating on so they can get through the winter. It's going to be a long, cold and expensive winter for many people."

EDF is the latest of the six major companies to announce a big price rise for its consumers, following on from British Gas, npower, Scottish Power and SSE. Are you considering switching operators to reduce your bills?